God bless the freezer.
As just about everyone’s moved out of the grey and grim Selly Oak, the ones left behind aren’t forsaken but presented with leftover food and freezable/perishable products. You wouldn’t believe the amount of food that everyone stores in their freezer and then, just forget about. It’s awesome. Of course, just about everything’s still within date and what with the number of pals who are heading home for mum’s homecooked food, you get a lovely range of goodies. Coming my way was a pack of Aberdeen Angus Beef Sausages and king prawns. No way was I passing up on that. Spending my last night as a second year in this damp, cosy house of mine, this dish is the product of an equation of donations from fellow friends and my leftovers. Hence, please forgive the very lack of any sort of fresh herbs. I was particularly intent on adding lemon zest and juice to the pasta, ala Ina Garten’s Linguine with Shrimp Scampi which I saw on the Barefoot Contessa. But I’d packed almost all my clothes (rolled them up tight) into my suitcase and wasn’t suitably dressed (really, I just couldn’t be arsed) to head to the off license for a lemon. Sue me for lack of dedication.
Sausages and shrimp are quite the combination. It may not be very flavourful a pasta dish but the mascarpone was so comforting and the sausages packed quite the oomph. Ben and I were happy with the results. It did drive away the post end of term sulkiness. Plus, we can’t complain with food given to us.
Cheers to good English sausages and pasta.
Cheers to the goodwill of friends.
Depending on the amount of pasta you use, this recipe yields quite a lot — it fed the bottomless pit we know as Ben Brown and I.
Aberdeen Angus Beef Sausage & Shrimp Scampi Fiorelli Pasta
Ingredients
- 250g fiorelli pasta (this is about 2-3 servings)
4 Aberdeen Angus Beef sausages
250g king prawns, shelled and de-veined
3 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
3-4 tbs mascarpone cheese
a good knob (think Jamie Oliver’s cooking measurements) of butter
3 tbs olive oil, for cooking
1/2 tsp dill
generous sprinkling of hot chili powder
1 tbs kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
Get the grill ready in your oven. Place sausages in a deep dish filled with water up to a centimeter from the bottom of the dish. Do not prick sausages as you want to keep all the juices within the sausages.
Place under grill to cook about 20min or so. Halfway through, turn the sausages so it browns on the other side. When the water has evaporated completely, it’s roughly about time your sausages would have cooked through completely.
Remove and when it’s cool to touch, slice into 1.5cm thick pieces. Be sure to save the juices and not chuck them away when slicing up the sausages.
Cook pasta in hot water.
For shrimp scampi: In a large frying pan, heat some olive oil. Add the chopped garlic. When golden brown, add the prawns and sautée. Add the butter and let it melt into the oil. Give it a good stir.
Once pasta is al dente, drain and return to pot. Add the shrimp scampi (all of the olive oil buttery goodness), sausages and a little more olive oil to loosen up the pasta. Stir through the dill, chili powder and mascarpone. Mix through well. Season with salt and pepper. Serve.
Pasta with shrimp, sausage and mascarpone sounds really good! I find it challenging to keep food moving through my freezer at a decent pace.
That looks so good. Could barely concentrate on the actual post after looking at that picture. *drools*
Heh, I misread this one as: a good knob (think Jamie Oliver), haha
“Steak” and “prawns”, now there’s a classic combination! The mascarpone (bless its expensive heart) is just the thing to drive it over the edge!
oh my oh my, i could very well see this dish on a menu of a very chic restaurant in paris! beautifully delicious! i freeze food too but most often i forgot afterwards i did it hahahha..in other words most of the time we end up dumping them coz they are really too old to consume
oof clearing refrigerators - i had to do that just a few days ago. didn’t find anything nasty in there fortunately but just having to clear everything out is such a hassle. and I never know what to do with the foods because the cravings for them never seem to set in. this looks wonderfully delish though - I can totally see myself wolfing this down
This sounds so rich and delicious! I love mascarpone.
Okay, but I really like the pasta shape! I don’t think I’ve ever seen it before.
kevin: i know what you mean. i tend to forget what i’ve shoved to the back of the freezer.
laura: lol, cheers for the compliment. if it helps, i had a hard time thinking up of what to fill the post too because i was eating and watching TV as i wrote this
manggy: mascarpone rules! sure beat using creme fraiche or double cream. hey, when i typed it, i actually typed it as ‘Jamie Oliver’s knob’ as in you-know-what-i-mean. did a double take when i was editting it. HA!
dhanggit: thank you!
i’m flattered. Yea I have the same problem. Think that’s why my mum used to check the freezer every day to try and coordinate the outflow of food from the freezer with that of the fridge.
celine: i find the cravings set in when i’m purchasing the stuff but once i chuck it in the freezer, i instantly forget they exist. lucky you. i had exploded coke and a shattered champagne bottle; and after catching a falling pint glass in my hand and then crashing it into the cupboard because my hand was moving in a propelling motion (thereafter a shard went into my ring finger) about a week ago, i’m permanently scarred with a fear for glass now.
emiline: me too! mascarpone’s got a lovely texture. the pasta look like heart arteries don’t they??
xx
LOL, the combination of beef and prawns is slightly odd but hey still delicious
And hurray for free food! You’re going back to Singapore for the holidays? Lucky you, all that food to look forward to.
Good for you for making use of what you had - even better that it was free! This looks delicious & comforting. I’m sure it’s hard to remain sulky after being sated with this dish. Congratulations on completing your second year! Enjoy your well-deserved holiday.
xoxox Amy
Yummm looks great. Love the idea of angus beef sausages… wonder if I can get them here?
I don’t usually think of shrimp and sausage together, but oh, this looks fabulous! And add mascarpone, too good!
If this is what you create from things leftover from the school year, I need to hang up my apron now!
Scampi? Did someone say SCAMPI? Love the scampi. I’ll be right over, let me check the international flights right quick…
What a nice shape of pasta! I haven’t seen this one yet… Margot